Before the World Ends
by HeroXD
Summary: The tales of Sho Minamimoto as a Player.
1. Chapter 1

Entry 1:

Introduction

As you may know, there are various forms of life in various planes of energy. I belong to that class most often referred to as Angels. Many lower energies are familiar with the Angel Sanae Hanekoma, the Producer who was deeply involved with the game between Composer Yoshiya Kiryu(Joshua) and Conductor Megumi Kitaniji in the Under Ground (UG) plane of Shibuya. I am an Angel referred to as the Recorder. It is my job to record all events occurring in the many planes of Shibuya. This task is easier than it sounds because of my high energy level, but enough about me.

The purpose of this report is to tell the tale of the rouge Reaper Officer Sho Minamimoto. Minamimoto is famous for his quick rise to an officer position, and his outrageous energy level. He made his claim to fame is his "reincarnation" through a Taboo sigil after a showdown with the Composer Joshua and his proxy Neku Sakuraba. It is still a mystery to us Angels as to how Minamimoto managed to perfect his Taboo sigil.

Although this may be what Sho is most famous for, his journey to that instance is a very interesting one. He was, in fact, a very different boy when he entered the Reaper's Game. So let us not forget, even the greatest of energy levels started playing a little game against Reapers and Noise. Of course, things have changed since Sho was a Player. In fact, it was a whole different era, the era when Sanae Hanekoma was Composer. The era when CAT ruled Shibuya. This is Sho's story.


	2. Chapter 2

Entry 2

Day 0: A Briefing

"Minamimoto, you are 'dead.'" A voice spoke to Sho from a dark silhouette in front of him. Sho had found himself in a bright white room that made it very hard to see very much of anything. Sho was sitting on a couch that was against a wall of the room, and the person speaking to him standing on the other side of the room. "Welcome to the 'afterlife,' or as we like to call it, The Reaper's Game." the voice continued to speak. "My name is Daisy and I am the Game Master this week." It was at this moment that Sho was able to focus on the person talking to him. It was a young lady. She looked like she was 17 or 18 years old. She wore a typical Japanese schoolgirl uniform.

"_Huh. This is what greets me after I die?_" Sho thought to himself. He found Daisy quite amusing. He always thought that he'd be met by some sort of angel or demon not a schoolgirl. Then something clicked in Sho's head. "_I'm dead? When...When did I die? How did I die? This has to be some sort of prank. I know, this is just a stupid joke being pulled by those jerks at school._"

"This isn't a joke, kid. Hehehe." Daisy giggled. "This is real life. You are dead, okay?"

Sho was shocked at this comment. "_How could she-"_

"How could she read my mind?" Daisy relayed Sho's thoughts. "Yes. I read your mind." Of course, we know that Reapers cannot read Players thoughts just like Players cannot read Reapers thoughts, but Sho wasn't exactly a Player yet. He lacked the one item that he would obtain when he woke up the next day. A Player Pin. "Hehehe. It seems your entry fee has been your memories of your death."

"Entry fee?" Sho asked in a sheepish manner.

"Your entry fee is what you hold closest to you. In this case, the Composer seems to think your memories of your death are very important to you." Daisy responded. "It makes me kind of curious as to how you died, but I don't suppose you could tell that now could you? Hm hm hm. Well, I suppose I should start wrapping things up." She started to walk closer to Sho. "As I stated earlier, Sho, you are dead. Tomorrow you will wake up and need to find a partner, that is, another dead person. The rest will be explained later on, got it?"

"Uh...Huh?" Sho quizzically looked at the GM.

"Find a partner." Daisy playfully said as she bent her knees a little so that she was eye to eye with Sho. She reached her hand out and played with a tuft of his hair. "If you don't, you will be erased."

"_Um so okay?_" Sho thought to himself. He couldn't seem to form audible words.

"You sure are one of the cuter ones." Daisy said with a smile. "Hope to see you on Day 7. Buh-bye Sho."

Sho then laid back down on the couch. He then entered this realm of sleep, or at least thats the only way he could describe it. He was asleep, yet he could still hear his thoughts loud and clear. He was so confused about what had just happened, but he was determined to find out what she meant. Sho was about to begin his journey as a player.


	3. Chapter 3

Entry 3

Day 1: Partner Up.

"Huh? What?" Sho mumbled to himself as he regained consciousness. In his hand he found the little black pin with the white skull on it. This is what is now known as the Player Pin, but back when Sho was a player, this is the only pin used in the Reaper's Game. Hanekoma was the first Composer to use such a pin. It was entirely his design. Hanekoma's discovery of using pins in the Game is what helped earn his position as Producer but I will speak more on this matter later.

Sho stood up. He looked around. "_What? Hachiko? How did I get here?_" Sho thought to himself. "_And what is this pin?_" Sho studied the pin looking for some sort of answer. On the back, near the outer rim of the pin, he found a logo that said "CAT." "_CAT? I swear I've heard of CAT somewhere before. Oh! I rememb-_" Beep beep. That was Sho's phone. "_Who could be texting?_" Sho thought. "_I'm dead...Wait a minute. I'm dead! No. No no no no! If I'm really dead, why am I still here in Shibuya? I can't really be dead._"

Sho looked all around him. There were people walking around him, carrying on there everyday lives. "Hey! Hey! Someone!" No one was responding to him. Not even a glance over in his direction. He jumped out in front of a man speaking on his cell phone, but the man walked right through him. "I've gone ghost." Sho said in a bit of a depressing manner.

Beep beep. His phone went off again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The message read:

"Reach 104.

You have 30 minutes.

Fail and face erasure.

-Your lovely GM, Daisy ^.^"

"Ngh!" Sho grunted as he as he gripped his wrist. He looked down on his hand, and there it was, plain as day. The timer on his hand read 29:37. "_Okay, this is real._ _I've gotta at least play along with this until I know what's going on. 104 huh? I suppose I should get going then._" Sho ran past the statue of Hachiko and out into the scrambled crossing. The timer read 24:11 as Sho attempted to approach the 104 building. Of course, he was stopped. The GM wouldn't dare allow a Player to survive one day without a partner.

"You need a partner dipshit." A man dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt bluntly stated. He had put up the wall that Sho just ran into.

"You're talking to me?" Sho asked him.

"Yeah buddy. Who else?" The man scoffed back.

"You mean, you can see me?"

"Ugh. You Players are so slow. Just find a damn partner."

"Partner? Zetta shit!"

"Zetta?"

"Uh, yeah. Thanks. I totally forgot. She told me to find a partner." Sho quickly turned around and started running up to people looking to see if they were in need a partner. He frantically looked everywhere, but everyone seemed to be ignoring him.

"So zetta slow." A voice yelled out of nowhere. Sho was shocked to hear this because, well, he had made "zetta" his own personal adjective. He did recognize the voice though. "Your partner has to be dead too, bro."

"Bro?" He couldn't put the voice with a face. He was so close. "...Joshua?" He guessed. He was correct. It was Joshua, but not Yoshiya Kiryu. This was Joshua Minamimoto, Sho's older brother.

"Bingo!" Joshua said with a grin. He tapped Sho's shoulder to reveal himself. Sho looked very similar to his older brother. Only a few facial structures and a hair cut are what kept the two from looking the same.

"Then...Then that means your dead too?"

"Ah, yeah. Total downer, huh? Enough about that though. We have to win this game, right partner?"

"Partner? Um... Okay!" Sho smiled at his older brother. At this moment, a light shined between the two of them. The pact had been confirmed. Sho looked at his hand. It read: 4:57. "Joshua! We have to hurry to 104."

"Right behind you." Joshua said with a smirk. The two of them ran back to where the Reaper had put up the wall.

"Well, well. I never expected to see you again." The hooded man said as Sho approached him. "I figured you'd have been gobbled up by the Noise by now. But I digress you found yourself a partner. You may pass." The man lowered the wall so that they could pass through.

"Um...Joshua, what was he talking about when he said I'd be 'gobbled up by Noise?'" Sho asked his partner as they approached the 104 building.

"Beats me." Joshua responded nonchalantly. "Hey look!" Joshua held up his hand. "My timers gone. We must've completed the mission."

"That's wonderful." Sho responded. "But what do we do now?"

"What to do indeed. Hehehe" Giggled a voice from above them. "I'm glad to see team cutie has completed my first mission."

"Daisy!" Sho and Joshua said in awe. Daisy was hovering above them as they stood there. Reapers can do this because, well, they do have wings. Most of them just prefer walking.

"I'm glad you two remember me." Daisy floated down to the ground, but just hovered an inch above the ground. "I'm sure you two are quite excited about finishing the first mission, but today's not quite over yet. I'm just not satisfied yet."

"The Game Master on Day 1?" Another hooded man spoke in from the where he was standing. "You sure do like to flaunt your pretty little face around don'tcha?"

"UH? Excuse me?" The GM screamed. "Hmph! Koki Kariya, always there when your not needed, but always missing when I'm looking for you. Hehehe. My, my, my, I've been looking for you anyway."

"Oh darn. I should of kept my mouth closed." Kariya sluggishly said.

"Oh, come on Kariya." The GM whined. She gave a small grin. "You see, my little Kariya boy, you've been a support Reaper for far too long. The Reaper Points you're gaining are running far too low."

"And now what, my highness?" Kariya sarcastically replied back.

"Always the eager beaver." Daisy matched his sarcasm. "You see Kariya, my dear, you have declined our offers to a promotion for just too long. And so it seems that you have no choice now. Well, I suppose you do, so please choose soon: become a field Reaper or face erasure."

"Ugh. Always crashing on our free ride." Kariya crunched his lollipop between his teeth. "Fine. You get your wish so shine me up or whatever you have to do."

"Hehe. You make be so happy." Daisy gave a wicked grin and pulled a pin out of her skirt pocket. The pin was similar to the Player Pin except it was blue with a black skull. This, of course, was another one of CAT's designs. It was a pin that had the power to unlock a person's potential power. The GM held her hand out with the pin in her palm. The pin started to glow and them a beam of light shot out and hit Kariya. "Now Kariya," the GM stated, "erase these Players."

She the ascended into the air and disappeared into the dark clouds forming overhead. The promoting a Player or Reaper is a result of a burst of potential energy. This energy often causes disruptions in the natural world, often resulting in small natural disasters.

"Erase us?" Sho asked in fear as he watched the clouds begin to rip open.

"RRRRRRRRRGGHH!" Kariya grunted. "She's lucky she's so damn pretty. Meet Noise Players!" The clouds ripped apart like a tear in old wallpaper. Behind the sky, they could see nothing but a lost connection, scrambled data. A flock of Raven Noise flew out of these tears in the sky. They were dark tattooed birds. "See you later, boys." Kariya said as he disappeared in a flash of lightning.

The Noise flew in and surrounded Sho. He could see nothing except the black blur of the Noise zooming by him. "Joshua! Joshua!" Sho shouted. There was no answer. A Noise flew in and started to attack Sho. "Ngh. Joshua!" he continued to yell. Still no response. Sho started to grow angry with the Noise and his brothers disappearance. Another Noise joined in and started scratching at him with its talons. Sho swung his fist at it. Nothing happened. The Noise continued to attack Sho until he could take it no more. His anger grew greater, but only it blinded his senses. With ferocity in his heart, Sho dashed into the blur of Noise.

He then found himself in a realm of sleep once more, unaware of how he got there.


End file.
